A healthy diet is something everyone who cares about their health claims they want. But the question is how do we really get it?

The Key To A Healthy Diet

Developing a healthy eating habit is not as confusing or as restrictive as many people tend to imagine. The first principle of a healthy diet is to simply eat a wide variety of food. This is important because different foods make different nutritional contributions to the body.

Secondly, fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes—foods high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, low in fat, and free of cholesterol—should make up for the bulk of the calories you consume. The rest should come from low-fat dairy products, lean meats, lean poultry, and fish.

You should also try to keep a balance between calorie intake and calorie expenditure – that is, do not eat more food than your body can use. Otherwise, the chances are you will gain weight. The more active you are therefore, the more you can eat whilst still maintaining this balance.

Following these three basic steps does not mean that you have to give up on your favourite food. As long as your overall diet is low in fat and rich in complex carbohydrates, there’s nothing wrong with an occasional cheeseburger. Just make sure you limit how frequently you eat these foods, and when you do, try to eat small portions of them.

You can also see healthy eating as an opportunity to expand your range of choices by trying foods – especially vegetables, grains, or fruits – that you do not normally eat. A healthy diet does not have to mean eating foods which are bland or unappealing.

 

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John Rifkind is a contributing editor at FitnessHealthArticles.com. This article may be reproduced provided that its complete content, links and author byline are kept intact and unchanged. No additional links permitted. Hyperlinks and/or URLs must remain both human clickable and search engine spiderable.